learn to fit politics into your aesthetic
You know the "When my sibling goes missing and my mom wants me to post them but it'll mess up my aesthetic" meme?
As a sibling this meme is very funny to me, and my brother and I used to send vidoes like this to each other all the time. While I find the meme funny, if my brother were to actually go missing I would 1000% be leading the search party. You see the thing is, I value my Instagram aesthetics and ever since my old Instagram account got hacked (moment of silence for her...) I've put a lot of thought into the aesthetic of my new account. Even though I value aesthetics and appearance, don't think for one second I wouldn't post about something important simply because I feared it "ruining my mysterious vibe" on Instagram.
When this meme was circulating it was a very funny running joke because OBVIOUSLY you would care if your sibling went missing. This joke has recently resurfaced in my mind because I think so many of us maintain this same mindset when it comes to posting/talking about worldly issues we face. I think so many people are afraid to speak about certain things on the internet because they either a) don't care enough or b) don't want to ruin their "aesthetic." Now, I'm not saying that in order for you to believe something you have to post it online, but I think this "ruin my aesthetic" mentality can become a gateway for people to avoid forming opinions on politics because being into politics "doesn't match their vibe." THIS is crazy to me.
So many people tend to opt out of having an opinion on politics, global affairs, and societal ills. Not taking a stance or speaking on issues can sometimes still be viewed as taking a side and I think many people need to actually ponder this. The idea that having strong political (or simply just ethical) views is seen as "unaesthetic" makes no sense to me. Who cares?! It shouldn't be seen as "controversial" or looked down upon to talk about things that matter. Seriously ask yourself: what is stopping you?
In addition to this on the other side of the spectrum, there are people who pick and choose what world news they care about. While advocating for certain causes is great and noble, you shouldn't just be following headlines or supporting causes that directly relate to you. When talking to my cousin Kwi about this he said, "If you're capable of advocating for these causes you can also advocate for other causes" and this is exactly my point.
There is genuinely so much going on in the world that it can be hard to stay up to date on every current event around the globe. I'm not expecting anybody to know exactly what is happening in every region of the world. My whole point is this: It's not cute to be silent about issues we face in this world. On one end of the spectrum we have people who refuse to post about issues because it will "ruin their aesthetic" and on the other side we have people who only post about certain issues in order to "maintain their aesthetic." On both sides you have people who are performing and working hard to currate a certain image.
Now let's remove social media and posting out of the equation. Have you ever watched a movie or listened to a music ablum that quickly became your entire personality? Have you ever been so passionate or excited about something that you talked about it any chance you got? Now ask yourself, when was the last time you were that passionate about politics? In your friendships do you occasionally find yourselves in conversations where you discuss current events? You see I think we look at politics the same way we do taxes, nobody wants to worry about them and we say things like "Oh that's something I'll have to worry about when I'm an adult." After a while though this view starts to drift from politics into morals.
I maintain the notion that if you actually stand for something rather than just saying that you do, people will see this in your life regardless of whether or not you post about it on social media. The discussion here isn't about if you should or shouldn't post about global issues on your Instagram, it's about whether you even have opinions on these issues in the first place. What good is it to claim you stand for a cause but when people check your social media, listen to you talk, or watch how you act none of it reflects what you claim to believe?
Politics is the aesthetic and it is incredibly cool to vote, support local causes, and speak out about issues we face as a society. What's not cool is being afraid to use your voice because you want to maintain a certain unbothered image. Surely what you stand for should mean more to you than how your aesthetic is perceived.
Happy Thursday! Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you guys continue to use your voices for good and speak out about what matters to you. I wish you all a wonderful weekend and I will see you in the next blog!
With Love Always,
~Side Note xoxo💋 !
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